


Where There Is No Darkness

by heartfeltdisease



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canonical Character Death, Character Study, F/F, Happy Ending, Patronswap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-29
Updated: 2012-12-29
Packaged: 2017-11-22 20:06:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/613762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartfeltdisease/pseuds/heartfeltdisease
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AG: Yeah whatever. So what do you know about archietecture?<br/>TT: *archetecture<br/>AG: Yeah you can shut the fuck up.<br/>--- arachnidsGrip was blocked ! ---</p>
            </blockquote>





	Where There Is No Darkness

**Author's Note:**

  * For [magicites](https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicites/gifts).



> warning for a few vague pedophilia jokes
> 
> "I've always thought that Rose and Vriska could have a really interesting relationship together. They have many similarities, and I think that they would have a really quirky and fun dynamic! I'd really like to see them interacting together in some way - would they be friends, hatefriends, or would they have a relationship together? I'd love to see them being completely badass together! Snarking and fighting baddies, and maybe even rushing headfirst into rash decisions! just show me what these Heroes of Light are capable of doing together."  
> I thought the best way to show this was a patronswap! I hope you enjoy this AND have a lovely 2013!!

arachnidsGrip [AG] began trolling tentacleTherapist [TT]  
AG: Oh my god youre so small XXXXD  
TT: Who is this?  
TT: I do not remember giving out my Pesterchum to anyone but puppygirl145.  
TT: Wait, is this you Jade?  
AG: Hahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!! No.  
AG: My name is Vriska.  
AG: I'm like your cool future friend. I'm going to give you cool future advice.   
AG: Like....... how not to 8efriend idiots with the username puppygirl145?  
AG: That's grade-A wiggler shit! Expected 8etter of you, TT!  
tentacleTherapist [TT] has blocked arachnidsGrip [AG]

arachnidsGrip [AG] began trolling tentacleTherapist [TT]  
AG: OK, OK. Learned my mistake. Puppygirl145 is fine. You can keep her around, just learned she's important.  
AG: 8ut really! I can help you learn really cool things.  
TT: That sounds terribly suspect. Are you a pedophile?  
AG: What's a pedophile? ::::?  
TT: Okay, I guess that's a good answer.   
TT: Mom told me not to talk to strangers, but my mom's an idiot so I suppose I'll give you a chance.  
TT: How old are you?  
AG: 6 sweeps!  
tentacleTherapist [TT] has blocked arachnidsGrip [AG]

arachnidsGrip [AG] began trolling tentacleTherapist [TT]   
AG: God, give me time to expl8in!!!!!!!!   
AG: That's 13 in stupid Earth people years.   
TT: How do you keep bipassing (sp) my block?   
TT: And what do you mean “Earth years”?   
AG: I'm from another universe.   
tentacleTherapist [TT] has blocked arachnidsGrip [AG]

arachnidsGrip [AG] began trolling tentacleTherapist [TT]   
AG: WILL Y8U STOP 8L8CKING ME?!?!?!?!   
TT: I'm no idiot, Vriska! If that is your name.   
TT: There are no aliens on the internet.   
AG: There also aren't supposed to 8e any eleven year olds, 8ut Y8U don't seem to mind!!!!!!!!   
TT: Crud.   
TT: Please don't report me, I just got this account.   
AG: You can say shit on Pesterchum, you know........   
AG: 8ut wh8ver! I won't report you!   
AG: If........   
AG: IF........ >::::)   
TT: If what?   
AG: If you promise to listen to my top-r8 cool future friend advice!!!!!!!!   
TT: Fine.   
TT: But if you're a pedophile, I'll tell my mom.   
AG: Yeah wh8ver. So what do you know a8out archietecture?   
TT: *archetecture   
AG: Yeah you can shut the fuck up.   
tentacleTherapist [TT] has blocked arachnidsGrip [AG]

By age thirteen, Rose had 4 names on her pesterchum list:

  1. Jade, her old-time Neofriend and roleplay buddy (she had to say, gardenGnostic was much better than puppygirl145);


  1. Dave, a friend of Jade's from some furry forum (which she was now sure was ironic);<
  2. John, a friend of Dave's from an anime blog, or something vaguely worded like that (she wondered if it was hentai.) He completed their little group. Whatever the reason these four had to met and group together, they had all become the best of friends, divided by distance but otherwise inseparable.
  3. And then there was Vriska. 



AG: You've met them all now!   
TT: Who?   
AG: Your teamm8s!   
TT: For what, dare I ask?   
AG: The game, dum8ass!   
TT: What kind of game?   
TT: I judge, by the fact you're talking about it, that it is not merely a Runescape campaign or something like that.    
TT: It sounds... far more sinister.   
AG: Hahahahahahahaha! Pro8a8ly.    
AG: I have no idea what this “Runescape” thing is, 8ut it sounds like a game of wrigglers.    
AG: Worse even than FLARP!!   
TT: You do realize that I have no idea what either of those things mean. You are a true mystery of dialect and technical vocabulary, Miss Arachnids Grip.   
AG: You're 8la88ering again, Miss Wizard Fangirl!!!!!!!!   
AG: This game is way 8igger than that!

Internet trolls were great at blabbering about strange conspiracy theories, and not much else but company, as far as Rose was concerned. But she has always been a sucker for a good fantasy, something to close her eyes and think that maybe she was worth something more than playing at passive-agressive affection in a big fancy lonely house. God knew she played the game often enough with Jade. Who was she to deny a strange pesterchum user?

AG: You have to do well, Rose!   
AG: The f8 of the Earth.... well, no, not just Earth!   
AG: The f8 of EVERYTHING is in your little pink hands.   
TT: Come now, I'm not that pale.   
AG: Pale what now?   
TT: My hands. They're tan. My mom is African American, and while I'm lighter than her by far, I am far from “pink.”    
AG: Ugh, all you humans are p8nk to me!!!!!!!!   
AG: You're not gr8y so you're pink, okay???????   
TT: That is a highly simplified and incorrect view of colors and saturation, but very well. Carry on. Tell me about the “feight” of the universe.

She learned the basics of architecture. She learned to spar with needles. She learned to divine with eight-balls, and when she got mad with them she did not break them, but merely set them down politely. When the others reported being “trolled” by annoying strangers with weird typing styles, Rose did not speak up. She diverted the topic. She spoke of the cool game coming out and hinted she'd like to play it. Jade muttered inane prophecies, Dave babbled about being “too cool,” and John got so excited she was worried he'd hurt himself. She wondered if there was something to this game after all. The more she went on, the more she liked to believe it. Six months before the game, Vriska quit speaking to her.

AG: Well, this is all I can teach you!   
AG: Good luck, Lalonde!!!!!!!!   
TT: Wait.   
TT: When is this game starting up again? I don't think I'm ready.   
TT: If this is truly all that serious, I need more information than this.   
AG: You're SOL, girly! I'm out of “troll little Rosey” time. It's time to 8other older you.   
TT: How is older me? Would I like her?   
AG: May8e, may8e not :::;)   
arachnidsGrip [AG] ceased trolling tentacleTherapist [TT]  


The game was released on John's birthday. It was everything she had hoped and worried it would be, and as such her training with Vriska came in handy. Sure, there were hijinks, more than a few involving bathtubs, but she was prepared for the heavy lifting. Dave bitterly accused her of Mary-Sue levels of competency, but she let his words breeze by her.

The next message came in the middle of an imp fight.

arachnidsGrip [AG] began trolling tentacleTherapist [TT]    
AG: Okay Lalonde, I'll admit it.   
AG: You're pretty 8adass!    
TT: A little busy, Vriska.   
AG: W8AH!! Haven't talked to you in FOREVER, and this is the th8nks I get!?   
AG: Remind me to go 8ack in time and not talk to you in the first place!!!!!!!!

The mightly beast fell with needles in its beady eyes. It may have fallen faster than it might have under other circumstances.

TT: There, now I am unburdened.   
TT: Thank you for the complement.   
TT: How have things been on the alien front?   
AG: Eh, shitty I guess.   
TT: How so?   
AG: Drama everywhere!!!!!!!!   
TT: I thought you lived on teenage angst? Collected it, drank it, bathed in it to keep your skin young?   
AG: What?   
AG: No, that's 8lood.   
AG: I don't enjoy any drama I don't instig8, and this has 8een all weird low8lood love triangle stuff.   
AG: And Terezi.   
TT: Ah, her.   
TT: Could you please update me on your relations with her? I'm highly curious to see what new things have unfolded.   
AG: Wh8t? NO!   
AG: Look I'm trying to talk to you for a reason! And that reason is not stupid quadrant advice!!   
AG: THAT REASON IS LOOT!!!!!!!!   
TT: What, are we playing Dungeons and Dragons?   
AG: Do you want the items I made you or not????????   
TT: Fine. Send me the code, and I will get myself to an alchemiter.

The items she received were highly useful, of course – ways to imbue her weapons with more and more power based on luck and deceit. Her magic grew stronger, let her more thoroughly destroy the landscape of the shitty RPG she had landed in.

TT: I had hoped for something more...   
TT: I'm afraid I don't have the word.    
TT: Friendly? Meaningful?   
TT: Easy, maybe.   
GG: sorry :( this game never was going to be easy.   
GG: i should have known that.   
GG: but it's hard seeing in general!!   
TT: That might be because of your myopia, dear Jade.   
GG: funny rose!!!!!   
GG: no, i mean like... seeing the future, you know??   
GG: like you're supposed to.   
GG: how do you manage it, rose??   
TT: I'm not quite sure I do.   
TT: But I will not lie and say I've been doing this alone. You had your clouds. I have my alien whispers.

Of course, she wasn't the only one to hear little whispers. She knew the others had trolls helping them as well – John spoke to a terribly uptight female with jade text, Jade the infamous Terezi, and Dave, the ever-angry Karkat. Whoever they were, she didn't care – Vriska was obviously the most helpful of them all.

She was a little fond of her, maybe. Vriska liked to say she was proud of her, which only increased the feeling. It sounded more authentic coming from her than Mom, when they were motivated by deeds of questionable morality and accompanied by eight-eyed smiley faces. Maybe Vriska was the Mom she was supposed to have.

AG: What is a “mom”?   
TT: Someone who takes care of you.   
TT: Similar to a lusii, from what you've explained.   
AG: Except lusii can't speak troll, really.   
AG: One that can actually talk to you for real all the time sounds like more trou8le than they're worth.   
TT: One could say that.   
AG: My lusii h8d me kill for her.   
AG: F8r food. She 8 other trolls.   
TT: She what 8 other trolls?   
AG: A-T-E YOU S8SSY 8ITCH!!!!!!!!   
AG: God, you're ruining the MOMENT.   
TT: I apologize. Continue your Lifetime movie story.   
AG: She made me 8ring her tr8ll corpses.    
AG: I always thought it was gr8 fun.    
TT: Was it?   
AG: M8y8e.   
TT: Do you like killing?   
AG: M8y8e.   
TT: I see.

Trolls were different. She had to remember that. They'd had conversations about the differences between cultures before; trolls were built to kill.

AG: It... it used to 8e fun! In fact it was real fun up until a few minutes ago.   
TT: A few minutes ago?   
TT: What brought you to this change of heart?   
AG: I killed Tavros.   
AG: 8ecause...   
AG: Well, 8ecause I could! It was never an issue 8efore.   
AG: I never killed someone I cared a8out 8efore.   
AG: And I guess I did care a8out Tavros.   
TT: Are you saying this Tavros was not someone you cares about previously?   
TT: But upon his death, you changed your mind?   
AG: I guess!   
AG: I just........ kinda feel like it was a 8ad thing to do, you know, killing people and 8ll.   
AG: May8e I need to do something to redeem myself????????

Sitting on a ledge near the Beat Mesa with multiple Pesterchum windows and one crystal ball, she received her last message from Vriska.

arachnidsGrip [AG] began trolling tentacleTherapist [TT]  
AG: Have I ever told you a8out troll romance?  
TT: I don't believe so.

(How does a Seer see? He asked. She thought he was full of shit.)

AG: We have more types than you dum8 humans.   
AG: We have red, which is kinda like your “love” thing I guess? I dunno, you humans are weird!!    
AG: There's pale, where you keep them from killing anyone.    
AG: Then there's ashen, where one person keeps two others from killing each other!    
AG: And, of course, 8lack. Which is where you h8 someone so much you want to kiss them.   
TT: Ah, so you and Terezi?   
AG: NO!!!!!!!! 8 THOUS8ND TIMES N8!!!!!!!!   
AG: We are...   
AG: ARG I D8N'T KN8W   
AG: We're not even... any qu8drant I think... I want to 8e 8round her, I want her to do well and at the same time I want to 8e 8etter than her!!   
AG: I like her and pity her and h8 her and admire her, all at once!!!   
TT: I believe humans have a word for that.   
TT: Siblings.   
AG: ????????   
TT: You have called yourself the Scourge Sisters, correct?    
AG: Yeah. Is that what that word means?   
TT: It is an accurate description of your relations. They are usually genetically related, and raised together by a pair of parents. Lusii, you might say.   
TT: I do have one question, though.   
TT: About your quadrants.   
AG: Yeah! What do you want to know, human girl???? I will teach you all a8out our vastly superior romance system!!!!   
TT: Is there a quadrant for two people who are bound together by duty, helping each other to learn and grow?    
TT: At first, it may seem only one is learning anything; they provide useful, practical advice.   
TT: Teaching the other to fight, to build; all they need to know to survive, physically, in a topsy turvy world.    
TT: But the “student” teaches as well, I'd like to think. About kindness, vulnerability. Things beyond where they grew up, beyond their circumstances and difficulties.   
TT: Maybe it's because they're much the same, at the core.   
TT: Whether either will succeed is beyond the scope of their knowledge, as either Seer or Thief, but they persevere, regardless.   
TT: Do you have a quadrant for that kind of pair?   
TT: That is to say:   
TT: Do you have a quadrant for us, Vriska?   
arachnidsGrip [AG] has blocked tentacleTherapist [TT] 

“That's alright.” She said aloud. “Humans don't either.”  
  
The orb tells her to answer Jade, and so she does. Vriska is right, it seems, about missing people more when they're gone, seeing all you took for granted –  
She asks the orb one more question, and she is gone.

arachnidsGrip [AG] began trolling tentacleTherapist [TT]   
  
AG: Rose?   
AG: Are you on?   
AG: Guess not. ::::\   
AG: It's h8rd to tell whats going on, since you're all 8lacked out.   
AG: I'm a little nervous! I know you're alive l8er, 8ut........   
AG: Weird 8lackout stuff, complic8ting my life.    
AG: 8ut I guess I sh8uldn't worry, right?   
AG: John should 8e ar8und, he'll kiss you to life if he has to.   
AG: As winners, we can take it as ch8mps, right?    
AG: No, uh, jealousy.   
AG: W8w why did I just s8y th8t.   
AG: Er. Anyw8y.    
AG: WHAT I'M S8YING IS   
AG: I'M G8ING TO FIGHT J8CK!!!!!!!   
AG: I think........ If I kill him to save my friends, the ones that are still around, I think I could put that stuff 8ehind me.   
AG: May8e you humans have it right.   
AG: 8UT YEAH I'M GOING   
AG: AND 8EFORE I DO I WANTED TO SAY:   
AG: If you discover that quadrant   
AG: I wouldn't mind 8eing in it with you.   
AG: Wh8ver it is.   
AG: So   
AG: W8   
AG: Terezi's here. Is she seriously wearing that?   
AG: Oh my god, this is so dum8.   
AG: Is she trying to prevent my heroic plan or something?   
AG: Who even knows!!!!!!!!!   
AG: Here, I'll talk to you more l8er. Gotta deal with the weird si8ling.   
AG: 8ye Rose! <33333333   
arachnidsGrip [AG] ceased trolling tentacleTherapist [TT] 

_(They meet in the place where there is no darkness, the end they have sought for._   
_“I thought of the word.”_   
_The bedraggled alien gives her a look.“What the fuck are you on about now?_   
_“Our quadrant.”_   
_Suddenly, the loud spider girl shifts, and becomes quiet, nervous._   
_“I believe the human word is 'friend.'”_   
_She sighs. “That's a bit of a cop out, isn't it Lalonde? I've got 8 million friends, just making you one of them seems.... cheap! I helped you win! I taught you things, I--” She stops, murmuring to herself with flushed blue cheeks._   
_A small smile graces Rose's face. “You what?”_   
_“Nothing! NOTHING AT ALL, SHUT UP YOU SASSY HUMA--”_   
_“That's the Vriska I know.”_   
_“SHUT UP!!!!!!!!”)_


End file.
